When Fantasies Collide
by Majin-Brolly
Summary: FF7 through X-2 all fighting the same enemy. Yet they don't even know they're not alone. Read on as the different worlds discover exactly what is going on in their own ways. Chapter 4 is finally up. Two fantasy's meet...and it isn't very pretty. Check it
1. Prologue

**When Fantasies Collide**

**_Prologue_**

A large red ship with a blue outer ring floated in outerspace. The ship seemed to be searching for something. A man dressed an soldier attire began to address his commanding officer.  
  
"Sir! Everything is set into place, we should hit the worm hole in 38.4 seconds." He said saluting his officer while making sure to stand perfectly still and not move a muscle until told otherwise.  
  
"Must you be so exact General?" A very large broad shouldered man asked. He stared at the soldier looking him over seeing if he would break at any second from being so nervous. "At ease. Today is a special day. The day our empire becomes the largest that time itself has ever known. Mark my words men. We will rule it all!"

* * *

A large black man running through a field at full speed with a giant gun arm might seem out of place on an ordinary day.  
  
"What do you mean it's gone? Are you stupid? How can an entire base just disappear dammit!" The man shouted into his cell phone while still running. He had been walking to the Chocobo Ranch so he could check on his prized racing Chocobo.  
  
"I swear! I saw it with my owns eyes Barret! The entire base left the ground and flew off into space." Tifa said back. She had a sense of urgency in her voice that told Barret he'd better run faster.  
  
As Barret reached the top of a hill high enough to see where Tifa was....he saw the giant crader where the sea base once called Junon Harbor had indeed disappeared. Junon was the base for Shinra that had the giant cannon. "What the f-"  
  
"Told you Barret! Call up Cloud and the others right now! We have to find out who is behind all of this as soon as possible!" Tifa screamed into her phone. 

"Yeah I gotta bad feeling about all this too....." He said looking up into the sky.

* * *

"How else could this be described...well, Zell seemed to have forgotten he had glue on his hands from when he fixed his punching bag for the 3rd time this week. He walked outside to use the hose and of course when some challenged him to a pull up contest he accepted and won with ease." Zell's mom explained inside her smoke filled kitchen where she spends that majority of her life. 

"And that's why he's stuck hanging from the light post in the front of town? Gotcha." Irvine said laughing so hard his cowboy hat fell off.   
  
"How's Selphie doing? You two got engaged a few days ago right?"  
  
"Yeah she's doing great. She's teaching over at Trabia garden and really having a good time." He said picking his hat up off the floor.  
  
"HEY!!! SOMEONE BETTER FRIKKIN GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!!!" Zell screamed from outside. You could here a guy like him from miles away.  
  
"Guess I better go help him out." Irvine said as he waved goodbye to Zell's mom and walked outside pulling his rifle out of his coat and shooting the sign four times in the blink of an eye. Zell fell to the ground with the pieces of metal he was hanging on to still stuck to his hands, while the piece Irvine had "cut" him from fell down and hit Zell on the head.  
  
"OWW! Damn you Irvine!" Zell said running after him. Zell had incredible speed so it didn't take long to make it to run all the way down the street to the front of his house.....more like two seconds. Both stopped as Irvine had his Rifle in Zell's mouth while Zell had a sharp piece of metal held against Irvines throat.   
  
"Another draw? This is getting old." Irvine said as they both removed their weapons. Zell walked into his house. He grabbed a knife and cut off the gloves the metal was stuck to.   
  
"Dammit! There goes naother pair of good gloves! If you didn't use a gun I'd kick your ass everytime!" Zell said as he did a standing back flip causing him to kick the ceiling fan.

"Zell! What did I tell you about showing off in the house!"

"Sorry Ma!"

"HAHA! You say that everytime. I'm a gunslinger Zell, it's my way." Irvine said. They both walked outside into the street.  
  
"Yeah Yeah...Hey! I bet you can't hit that bird all the way up there!" Zell said pointing at a small speck in the sky. The speck somehow began to grow in size or rather it was getting closer to them.  
  
"That's not a bird. Looks more like a ship...the Ragnarok!" The Ragnarok slammed into the ground in front of Balamb seconds later. Squall ran out screaming for them to get on the ship now.  
  
"What's up Squall! Haven't seen you in a-" Ward grabbed Zell and tossed him on the ship. "HEY! Big overgrown--"  
  
"Shut Up Zell! We don't have time for any of that now. Something big is going on and we don't have much time." Squall yelled as the ship took off in a flash confusing many of the locals.

* * *

Alone forever, that is the way he remains even after all that had happened. Amarant sat in a tree on the edge of the former Mist continent watching over a field full of Chocobo's and monsters. Chocobo's seemed to be good at group assaults as they all kicked and pecked incredibly powerful monsters to death. They were tall and majestic yellow birds ranging from 6-8 feet in height. Don't ever get on a Chocobo's bad side he said to himself.  
  
"Amarant! Get up and get to Lindlum as fast as possible!" Zidane screamed at the top of his lungs not even making Amarant flinch. The guy had been through a lot. It'd take a whole lot to startle him.  
  
"Why?" He said calmly.  
  
"I'll tell you when we get there! Now come on!" Zidane screamed jumping up and down.  
  
"No." He passively waved him.  
  
"Fine, I guess I'll have to make you come!" Zidane said as he grabbed his dagger and sliced through the tree causing Amarant to hop off at the last second before it crashed into the ground. Amarant stared at Zidane very coldly for a moment or two.  
  
"I always did hate you."  
  
"Come on let's go!" Zidane said grabbing Amarants arm with his tail and dragging him to Lindlum.

* * *

"Yuna wake up!" Tidus yelled running into the hut she had been sleeping in on Besaid Island.  
  
"What is it?" She said yawning. She had horrid bed head.  
  
"You wont believe me when I tell you this....but Auron's back!" He exclaimed joyfully. Almost too joyfully. 

"What?! What kind of joke are you playing on me this time Tidus? This isn't funny!" She said upset at what Tidus had supposedly tried to trick her into believing. "I'm gonna go for a walk now!"

"Wait Yuna!" Tidus said as she reached the entrance to the hut.

"Yuna, it's been awhile..."

* * *

Author's Notes: This is a revision of my other prologue in case you were wondering. I was told by many that I didn't use enough detail so I've added on to this prologue. 


	2. Old Friends, Old Foes, and One Confused ...

**When Fantasies Collide**

**Chapter 1**

**Old Friends, Old Foes, and One Confused Yuna**

A man dressed in an all black robe with black sun glasses and a black sword. He stood fairly tall with one arm bulky and the other not so due to an injury from the past. He was the guardian of Yuna and her father Braska. The problem with the situation here....is that Auron is already dead. He died avenging Braska but came back to protect Yuna. Then he finally left this world.

"Auron! What are you doing here?!" Yuna said hugging him. "What's with the new look she said wiping a tear from her eye."

"Black suits me better then Red. I'm here for many reason's. Shall we take a walk Lady Yuna? You need to come as well Tidus." Auron said walking out the hut. Auron wiped the sweat off of his forehead, wearing black on a tropical island on a sunny day, what was I thinking he thought to himself.

"So it's hot even for a dead guy huh?" Tidus said laughing. Auron just looked at him. "Eh heh...so what's up Auron? Why the sudden appearance?" Tidus said hopping in front of him. Auron just kept walking.

"Yes why did you come back? Is there something wrong that you need to take care of?" She questioned hoping it wasn't the case.

"I didn't come on my own accord. The faith summoned me. They seem to think I'm very useful. I didn't cooperate at first but after they made me a deal I just couldn't say no.

"A deal?" Tidus questioned. "You mean you talked to the faith? You can do that when you die?" Tidus said walking backwards in front of Auron and tripping over a log. "Ouch...."

"Yes, as you know pyreflies are what our souls are made of. When someone dies if they are not sent to the farplane they turn into a fiend and must be killed. Well either way, when you reach the farplane you meet millions of other souls. It's like an other world. The faith rule over this world as God's." Auron said again wiping the sweat from his brow. "You were an exception though, Tidus. You were to disappear when the faith were done summoning you since you never existed to begin with. They let you stay because of Yuna. Be thankful."

"Trust me I've thanked her many ti--"

"I'd rather not here about that today Tidus." Auron said recieving a laugh from Yuna who was already laughing at Tidus from when he tripped over the log.

"So, they have obviously brought you back for something important no?" She said looking at Auron now trying to stop laughing. They all continued walking away from the village. The day seemed to get hotter by the minute.

"It seems that we have many troubles to deal with all at once Lady Yuna. Frankly, I don't know which ones to deal with." Auron said bowing his head.

"So even Sir Auron get's stump--"

"Quiet Tidus! This is serious!" Yuna yelled at him. "Auron, what kind of troubles do you mean?" She then said in a very serious tone. They all stopped under a large tree to keep out of the direct sun light.

"For one, there seems to be some type of new organization building itself up on the islands west of Bikanel, the desert Isle. Nobody has ever explored those areas so we don't know much about them." Auron stopped so that he could grab his secret liqour bottle and take a quick swig.

"So we need to find out what these guys are up to on an out of the way island chain?" Yuna said confidently.

"Number two" Auron continued. "Sin." That one word was all Auron had to say to send chills down Yuna and Tidus's spines.

"SIN IS BACK! SINCE WHEN?!" Tidus screamed in outrage. "We killed him for good! All of us did!" Tidus said beginning to pace back and forth.

"Somehow, he has been summoned once again. If an energy source can be found that is strong enough to summon him along with the right seals." Auron looked at both of them. He knew this was not something they wanted to hear.

"So, where is Sin Auron?" Yuna said trying to remain calm throughout all of this.

"Circling those Islands, surely protecting the organization." He quickly spit out. "Number Three" He said getting even more dreadful looks from Yuna and Tidus this time then the two times before. "Tidus. I don't know how to say this....but you're about to get body slammed by your father."

"Wha?" Tidus shouted as he was suddenly picked up and slammed onto the back of his head.

A few minutes later after Tidus and his father had there emotional long time no see and started wrestling around.

"So the deal you made was for Jecht to come along?" Yuna questioned laughing at the position Jecht had Tidus in. He had Tidus's feet nearly touch the back of his head. Loud screams could be heard from Tidus at this point.

"Yes. The faith saw this as a major crisis and wanted all of their so called big guns on the job I told them if Jech t doesn't come neither do I." He then got up and began walking back toward the village. "It's getting late Lady Yuna. We need to rest. Tomorrow we will need to contact everyone that can help us." He said staring at sky.

"What will we do tomorrow?" She asked him.

"We will find out who is controlling Sin and what this new organization's plans are." He said bluntly.

"Well then I guess we should a get a good nights sleep.

The next day they all met up on the Celsius. The Gullwings were there as usual. Buddy was a fairly toned guy but he was not a fighter by a long shot. He was mainly a navigator. Shinra was a weird looking little kid with a yellow full body jump suit on and goggles covering his face. He was a technological god though so he was very good to have on your side. Brother....well he's still in love with Yuna that's for sure. He has kind of seen the light in that Tidus has won her heart though. Tidus is clueless about Buddy and his intentions.

Baralai, Gippal, and Nooj had all begun working together. They have a three leader system as they practically control the world now. It makes decision making much easier on all of them. The three of them are preparing to defend against attack as Yuna and everyone else prepare to investigate. Gippal is having artillery set up all along the shores of all the major coastal cities. Baralai has sent New Yevon soldiers to protect the insides of the cities and guard major buildings. Nooj has hidden ambush parties along all of the different paths and roads leading to the cities in case they come on foot.

Spira looks to be in good shape for now.

Wakka and Lulu were there but with their newborn child enjoying the scenery as they were flying thousands of feet above the ocean. Yuna couldn't see them joining in on the fighting just yet. Rikku was playing with the baby and was baby talking in Al Bhed. It was weird.

A large creature with Blue fur then walked into the room. Standing ten feet tall with a broken horn and his arms crossed he smiled upon seeing Yuna for the first time in months.

"Kimahri! You came!" She said leaving Tidus for second to greet him. Kimahri was very special to her as he had protected her since she was a very small child.

"Whoa! Haven't seen you for a while Kimahri!" Tidus said. He hadn't seen Kimahri since they defeated Sin and he (Tidus) disappeared. "I hear you're the elder now! Congrats man err Ronso!" He said laughing.

"Yes. Kimahri must protect mountain as Ronso Elder." He pasued for a second to gather his surroundings. All eyes were on him now. He was used to that by now being the leader of an entire race. The Ronso live on Mt. Gagazet and pray to the mountain. It's sort of their god if you will. "If there no world for great Mt. Gagazet....Kimahri cannot protect mountain. Kimahri will protect world for mountains sake." He said smiling even more.

"That's great to hear Kimahri. Let's go over....uh oh." Yuna said. She had just noticed what was about to happen. Why she didn't think of this before hand she couldn't figure out.

Auron was sitting in a dark corner of the room as usual looking as though he weren't paying attention to a thing that had happened but in relaity the man was so aware of his surroundings it was scary. The thing he was pretending not to notice the most was that he was being watched. Finally he looked up to see who it was. It was a girl he had never seen before. She was dressed in all black with gray hair spiked up while the bangs fell covering parts of her face.

"Gotta problem?" She asked in her usual cocky yet mellow attitude. Auron took a step forward and grabbed a hold of his sword. She also grasped her's in anticipation.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I see you use a sword....let's see your skills!" Auron said as he ran at her swinging down onto her only to be blocked by her sword. She kicked Auron in the stomach sending him backwards and sent herself into a barrel roll until she flinged up in front of him and began to slash down onto him. What she hit though was nothing but the ground as Auron dodged while sliding behind her holding his blade to her neck.

"Who are you?!" She asked as the blade suddenly was pressed against her throat even harder.

"I'm Sir Auron. You have very good skills with the sword. That hit would have split me in half had you not given away the fact that you were going to slash down onto me. Had you slashed acrossed I would not have escaped and surely would be lying in two pieces right now. What is your name?" He said removing his sword from her neck. She step backward from him in disgust.

"Paine." After a few seconds she began to laugh. "So you're the Sir Auron Yuna always talked about. I never imagined you'd be this good. Now I have something to work for again." She said as she walked away smiling.

"Yuna, you have a knack for surrounding yourself with good fighters. You never cease to amaze me." Auron said as he went back to his corner. Yuna smiled as always. Everyone had been watching the fight as the two greatest swordsman's that the world had ever known had just went at each other. Tidus was a swordsman as well.....but not a traditional one. You could hand him any weapon and he'd be good with it becuase he's probably the greatest raw athlete the world has ever known.

Clapping could be heard above all the talking. It was Jecht. "Good Auron! Very Good! HAHA! maybe you and I should go at it sometime!" He said.

"Shut up Jecht" Auron shouted as he stepped back out of his corner. "Now, is everyone here?"

"Yes everyone that was supposed to be here has shown up." Yuna said.

"What did you call us all here for? And why the hell are you alive?!" Wakka said. Wakka and a lot of the others hadn't noticed Auron's presence until the fight had begun.

The long explaination thus took place.

"So we're going there now?" Paine asked. "If so we should break off into groups. There's tons of islands over there and we need to sweep them all in as little time as possible. If they are scattered acrossed all the Islands this will be a hard mission."

"Correct!" Shinra interrupted. "But their main base is on the largest island as you can see on this sky recon robot I'm controlling." The video suddenly fizzled out. "Whoa! What happened!" Shinra screamed as he began rewinding back. He zoomed in on the island to show a sniper picking off the camera."

"Well they know we're coming now. It doesn't look like they'll be happily greeting us either." Yuna sighed. "So what are the groups going to be?"

"Lulu will guard the ship when we land since the child can't be left unattended or the ship for that matter" Auron started.

"Hey! We can handle the ship!" Brother shputed. Lulu then used some of her Black magic to set his foot on fire. "OW OW OW OW! Ok Ok...." He said holding waving his foot with his hand. Auron continued.

"Tidus, Rikku, and Wakka will be Island Hopping on all the smaller Islands since they can swim better than anyone else here."

"Sounds good!" Tidus agreed. Wakka and Rikku nodded as well.

"Kimahri, Paine, and Myself will storm the main base while Yuna covers us with gun fire." Auron paused for any comments which he knew were bound to happen any second.

"I agree. You guys are the best close range fighters here. It makes sense that you three be the ones to infiltrate them. Yuna can pick off any body trying to sneak up on you." Tidus said actually sounding smart for a second. "Plus that way she wont get hurt!" Yuna punched him in the stomach for that one. "Pain....lot's of Pain." He said holding his gut.

"Then it's settled. We should go as soon as possible." Auron finshed as he turned his back and began walking towards his beloved dark corner.

"Wait! What are we gonna do about Sin?!" Yuna questioned shocked that everyone had seemingly forgotten about him.

"Sin cannot guard all of the Islands at once. We will fly past it and land on the Islands. Sin is being controlled by those people. Do you really think they'd attack their own islands?" Lulu asked Yuna.

"Alright! Let's go!" Yuna shouted. So simple she is Lulu said to herself. That's why we all love her though. Her lack of wit is made up for with her undying determination.

The two groups were dropped off into their designated spots. Team Fishy as Rikku offcially dubbed them were dropped onto a very small island. It may have been thirty feet in diameter. They dove into the water heading for another island.

Auron led the infiltration team toward the enemy base. It seems that the base was built into the base of a mountain. It couldn't possibly be attacked from behind. Only above and from the front. The fort looked like an old castle. Auron didn't know that though since castles had never existed in Spira. None of them knew what it was. All they knew was that it was made of stone and had a giant wooden gate for an entrance.

As they apporached the gate it dropped in front of them. Yuna was a few hundred yards behind them watching to make sure there weren't any enemies coming from the sides. Suddenly three men hopped down from above surrounding them. They were dressed in all blue from head to toe. Each of them had a machine gun in their hands with a couple grenades on their belts.

"What purpose do you have here?" One of them said.

"We have come to investigate what a large base is doing on a remote island west of all known civilization." Auron fired right back. "Tell us what you're organization is doing or you will die." Auron said grasping his sword with his one arm.

"Yeah right! You guys are dead!" He said pulling the trigger firing massive amounts of bullets at Auron. Auron dodged every bullet except for one which he deflected with his handle and swung is sword down onto the man splitting his head in two.

The other two fired their guns at Auron in fear of meeting the same fate. Paine performed her forward roll and then hopped up swing her blade in a horizontal slash at one of the men's head cutting his head clean off from ear to ear. She didn't get all of the head though as you could see the bottom row of teeth topping off his body. The last one fled in terror but was no match in speed for Kimahri as he drove his spear into the man. Kimahri picked him up with the spear and swung the spear sending him crashing into the stone wall of the base.

Auron noticed four more descending upon them from above. He tried to warn the others but before he could all four of them slammed into the wall spraying blood everywhere. Yuna had picked all four of them off in no time at all. Two of them were stuck to the wall. The other two fell to the ground. All of them were dead. Yuna had some ridiculously powerful guns. What's even more ridiculous was the fact that they didn't even budge she fired them and the fact that she could be so precise and quick.

Auron, Lulu, and Kimahri walked into the base with Yuna following behind.

"Alright! They're in." Yuna called into the Celcius.

* * *

Author's Notes: Spira is the name of the planet they're on in case you didn't know and were confused. Yes this entire chapter was based on the FFX and X-2 world. Is this a pattern I will be following? Only for a little while. Just keep reading....please? Leave a review if you loved it or hated it. I just want feedback.


	3. The Blood Red Amarant

**Chapter 2**

**The Blood Red Amarant**

A battle had broken out. Lindblum was under attack from the air and the ground. Streamline airships moving faster than Amarant had ever seen a ship fly before. With propellers on the front and wings on the side they fired explosives at Lindblum Castle. As the stone walls crumbled and buildings caught fire screams from the public could be heard over all of it. This wasn't the first time Lindblum had been attacked. It's not the first time they've been attacked by an enemy that uses unknown weaponry either.   
  
The only good part was that it seemed as though the attack was ending. All of the ships seemed to fly away and all the troops were pulling out. Where were they retreating to?  
  
"I go to take a nap and war breaks out. Can't you handle anything Zidane?" Amarant said smacking him on the back of the head.  
  
"Hey! I was ordered by Regent Cid to get you! I was sleeping in Garnets room!" He said smiling. Zidane was what you would call a monkey man. He had a small frame but used butterfly swords taller then him and sometimes two daggers at once. He had a tail which he used for various things....like tapping people on the shoulder to confuse them.  
  
"You think you're such a big shot now that you're a King-to-be eh?" Amarant sneered. "I bet Garnet would be pretty sad if I cut off your tail and used it to hang you off the Treno bridge." He coldly finished.   
  
"You wish you could catch me Red!" Zidane countered. Amarant was once called the Red Amarant and was wanted for a lot of money. He had red dread locks with light blue skin and a green suit. He is the only one who can match Zidane for speed as he uses his deadly claws to slash enemies to death. Amarant acts very coldly around Zidane but the truth is that Zidane is Amarants only friend. He is the only reason Amarant chooses to live. Amarant for the longest time has not been able to understand what makes Zidane tick and has made it his business to figure him out. That and Zidane saved his life once....but Amarant chooses the other explanation.  
  
Amarant chased Zidane into the city while this war was going on. All of the enemy soldiers had disappeared. What they left was something that could not be explained any better then simply a massacre. Small children and adults alike dead in the streets. Well not all of them were dead. Some were still squirming under thousands of pounds of wreckage. It wouldn't be long before their screams of pain faded away into the darkness.  
  
Regent Cid suddenly appeared as he came running around a corner from behind one of the buildings. The regent was the king of Lindblum to put it bluntly.

"Zidane! You're back finally!" he said panting after he arrived at their position a few yards before the front gate of the city. He tried to say something but was interrupted by a tower collapsing onto another building causing a loud BOOM to occur.

"Who is behind this Cid?!" Zidane screamed over the loud sounds of debris falling to the ground.

"Nobody knows! This is so horrible! I thought we had finally made peace with everyone. Now we have to fight a blind war with a crushed army and practically no base of operations!" Cid said pulling out his hair as he dropped to his knees. Cid didn't act royal and mighty around them since they were practically his white knights. He treated them as his equal.

"Where are the others?" Amarant questioned as he walked in front of Zidane crossing his arms. Another building fell down maybe twenty feet from where they were standing. Smoke black as the night covered the immediate area now.

"cough. I had my wife, Eiko, and Garnet escape on the underground trolley which you know I had extended a few months ago." Cid explained to the two of them trying not inhale any of the smoke. "Eiko and Garnet wanted to fight but I told them we could handle this and they needed to protect Alexandria. They'll arrive in Alexandria thirty minutes from now. I need you two to gather everyone who can help us fight. I'll be contacting Burmecia. I've already ordered the remaining soldiers to search for and rescue civilians. Good Luck!" Cid then took off full speed toward Lindblum castle. He soon disappeared into the smoke...the old man still had some speed.

"Alright Amarant let's go!" Zidane said as he started running off. He stopped when he noticed Amarant was still standing there. "What're you doing Amarant? We gotta go NOW!" He screamed grabbing his arm. Amarant still didn't budge.

"Zidane. Are you telling me you don't feel that force closing in on us as we speak?" Amarant said looking at him like he was an idiot. "If we move it will follow us. It's coming here right now. Get ready!" He said revealing his claws. Zidane now felt the presence he was talking about.

"What the hell is it?!" Zidane screamed as he kept looking around trying to pin point it.

"Take a look for yourself." Amarant said pointing up to the roof of one of the only buildings left standing. Amidst the flames a figure stood on the roof wearing all black as it's black cloak flapped in wind the billowing smoke was creating.

"Garland?! What's he doing here dammit?!" Zidane screamed at Amarant as he drew his butterfly sword.

"It's not Garland. Garland is dead and that's a fact. It's someone else." Amarant said.

"Someone else? Like who?!" Zidane said awaiting an answer. The figure then jumped off the roof landing in front of the two crushing the ground as he landed with his knee and fist hanging his head down. He stood up and tossed aside his cloak. He was dressed from head to toe in black. Black boots, black pants, black long sleeve shirt, black golves, black mask...you get the picture.

"Isn't it hot in that suit around all these flames?" Zidane said snickering to himself.

"I was sent here to defeat the strongest warriors." The man said in a very low toned voice. "Please don't disappoint me. I was told you saved this planet before already. Wanna try again?" He said laughing. He stood up and looked both of them over. Amarant remained in his stance ready to attack while Zidane stood there with a confused look on his face.

"What's your name? Who do you work for?" Amarant questioned the man in a demanding tone. Zidane's face took on a more serious look as well.

"I don't have time to answers questions." He said as he lunged at Amarant trying for an early knock out. Amarant blocked his fist by crossing his claws in front of his face. "Fast." the man said.

"You don't know the half of it." Amarant laughed. Zidane spinned his butterfly sword above his head preparing to strike down onto the man. "Don't interfere Zidane! I want him for myself!" Amarant said smiling cocky as ever. "You go search for the others and see if there's any more enemies around here." Amarant jumped back from the man in black.

"Are you sure about this Amarant?! What if he's stronger then he's showing us?" Zidane asked hesitantly.

"You think I've been sitting around getting weaker all this time Zidane? Go NOW! If you don't I'll kill you!" Amarant screamed. Zidane knew he could still beat Amarant but agreed anyway. Amarant was a man of pride. This was his way of redeeming himself after he lost to Zidane and then later on was saved by him. Zidane ran off and disappeared into the smoke.

"Hmph! So you think you're enough by yourself...Amarant was it? Let us fight for pride then!" He said disappearing and reappearing behind Amarant and back handing him to the ground. "Your reflexes aren't good enough." He said calmly.

"Metal arms?....." Amarant questioned getting up slowly. He stood in front of the man and burshed himself off as he began to look over the stranger.

"Metal body. I am all Metal. Those claws of can't even cut me." He answered as he jumped at Amarant trying to kick him in the face. Amarant grabbed his leg and jumped up dragging his claws along the man's body as he rose upward. All that could be heard were the sounds of grinding metal. "As I said your Claws are useless against my body. This body is my curse and I will use it to my advantage!" He shouted at Amarant. "My family, my life was ruined by this body. I have excepted this as my fate though. My fate is to be an invincible fighter. What is your fate Amarant?" He asked coldly standing perfectly still with his eyes locked onto Amarants.

"I've spent time training with a man who is the complete opposite of me. I trained so I can one day defeat that friend I threatened earlier. I figure the training might help to surprise him next time." Amarant regretted saying. "But now I've run into you. Looks like I gotta pull out all the stops." Amarant began summoning energy from his body. He was about to perform so type of spell.

"Magic? That stuff is useless in battles of this level my friend!"

"Tell Vivi that! BOLT!" Amarant screamed as clouds suddenly formed themselves and shot electricity into the man of metal. The man didn't even flinch.

"You think...a man who is 100% metal would be hurt by that?" he said as he grabbed Amarant by the arm and threw him sending him crashing through the wall of a building and taking everything else down with it. Amarant had a hard time believing he was all metal before and thought that the metal would cause the electricity to do even more damage to his normal body parts then normal. "Is that all you've got? Come now! They wouldn't have sent me if they knew you were this weak!"

Amarant exploded out of the burning wreckage of the building and smashed his claw into the chest of the man sending him backward a few feet.

"Who sent you?" Amarant said breathing very heavily with a very pissed off look on his face.

"HAHA! You're not in a position to be asking questions my friend." The man said as he hopped up kicking Amarant in the chest knocking him back and through another building. Amarant jumped out of the wreckage again but this time stopped and got back into his magic pose.

"HASTE!" Amarant screamed. He took off in an instant twice the speed he was beforehand and realised that the man couldn't follow his movements as well at this speed.

"Hmm. This speed still wont help you." he said as he swung at Amarant missing and getting kicked in the stomach. He was right Amarant thought to himself. He needed to deliver enough force to break through the metal this guy's body was made of. Then he got an idea.

Amarant ran away from the man at full speed not looking back. He suddenly stopped and got back into his magic pose. "Protect!" he screamed. Now he was faster and less likely to get injured.

"I see. You think by getting up to your full speed that your attack will have enough velocity and force to break through my metal. Very well! A final dual to end this battle!" He said.

"I wont lose to a freak like you! I will cut you in half!" Amarant said in a very un-Amarant way....almost like he was losing his cool.

"My entire life has been ruined...yet I march on! I will continue to march right over you until my pride has been taken! Come!" He said as he took off at Amarant. Amarant in turn began running.

They both ran each other getting to full speed. Both were going to attack from their right sides when they collided as Amarant had his claws flailing to the right loosely and the man had his fist locked and loaded.

Their bodies met with a very loud clang as Amarant slashed his claws down the man from his chest down to his inner thigh. The man's fist connected with Amarant's chin causing him to fly backwards while spinning wildly out of control like a spinning top before slamming into another building bringing all 6 stories of stone and metal down on top of him. The man dropped to his knees with his arms by his sides. He stared up into the sky like a deer in headlights.

"You...." He said while blood was pouring out of him like a fire hose. He could see his own vital organs torn to shreds as he looked down into the four large gashes Amarant had made on his bust.

"HA! Ha Ha HA! Ho Ho Ho! HA! I have been beaten! Yes!" he hystericaly laughed on as Amarant finally crawled out of the wreckage to watch as he stopped laughing and started coughing blood everywhere. Amarant was actually looking worse off then the man as he crawled in font of him. There eyes met in a stare for a moment or two.

"Nice hit..."Amarant said breaking the silence.

"You fight for pride. You have earned your pride. I have no pride for I am the creation of another man." he said as he tried to keep the rest of his blood from spilling out of his wounds.

"Who? Who created you? Is he the one who attacked Lindblum Castle?" Amarant said holding onto his body as he was kneeled in front of the man.

"Yes. He created us to kill everyone here......" The man said as he fell forward onto Amarant covering him in blood. Amarant held him up wish his arms trying to get answers out of him.

"Hey don't die yet! Who's is he and what does he want?!" Amarant shouted at the man but to avail. Finally the man answered him barely squeezing out his last words.

"cough...every....thing" was all he managed to get out before he coughed out more blood. His eyes were glazed and he was no longer breathing. Amarant set him down gently. He could have used his Pheonix down....but something told him the man wanted this. Amarant walked slowly over to the man's cape and picked it up. He covered the man's body with it as he looked deep into the sky.

"You didn't deserve this! You just wanted to escape all this....didn't you?" Amarant questioned to himself as he redirected his eyes to another building collapsing. Amarant's train of thought was then interrupted by none other then...

"AMARANT! BIG TROUBLE!" Zidane screamed at him. He got to Amarant and saw the body lying under the cloak. "Woah! You beat him already? I saw all the buildings going down and thought it would take longer." He said laughing.

"We had a mutual agreement to end it quickly." He said bluntly. "So what's this big trouble you speak of?" Amarant asked as he sat down on the ground indian style. Zidane just stared at him funny.

"Uhh, Yeah! All the troops and ships have disappeared!" Zidane said trying to act it out and doing a horrible job. Why he thought he could act out a ship disappearing the world will never know.

"Enough. How did they just disappear?" Amarant questioned.

"I don't know! Cid told me to tell you that they're all gone. Alexandria is safe and so is Burmecia castle. They couldn't have left the continent without troops from one of the kingdoms seeing them fly or march by." Zidane explained. Now Amarant was annoyed.

"So what are we going to do then?" Amarant asked as he limped over to Zidane slowly.

"I guess we should meet back up with Regent Cid and the others. They're all at the castle. Man you took a beating didn't ya? You want a couple potions?" Zidane asked. Amarant just walked by Zidane ignoring him his offer. Zidane shrugged and turned around to follow him. They both walked off toward the castle as the fires continued to burn and buildings continued to fall after the attack on Lindblum.

* * *

"So...what should we do now?" Regent Cid asked everyone. Zidane, Amarant, Baku, Blank, and Marcus were the only ones there. Everyone else was in Alexandria.

"YOU'RE THE REGENT!" He got back from Zidane who began flailing his amrs in the air.

"Yes but how we go about this is a very important matter." he said rising from his thrown beginning to walk around with his head facing the ground.

"How 'bout we order search parties to sweep the continent!" Baku said. Baku was a big old guy with large point ears, goggles, a red vest, and green pants. he was the leader of the band of thieves and recently the offical guards of Lindblum castle, Tantalus. "It's not like we have anything to lose. This castle aint really worth protecting now anwyays!"

"He's got a point. Why would they strike here again?" Blank added on. Blank was a tall guy who wore a blue head band around his eyes and clothing much like Tarzan. Marcus just nodded. He was a short and stalky guy that wore blue with an orange head band. All of them were swordsmen in their own way.

"What if they eliminate every group one at a time? It'd be tedius but I wouldn't put it passed an enemy who created a man of metal." Amarant added. "There's not a doubt in my mind they have even stronger soldiers awaiting the order to seek and destroy." Amarant had finally used a potion by the time he realised he'd have to climb stairs to reach the castle. Broken ribs plus shattered bones plus blood gushing from your body makes you feel bad enough I would think.

"SIR!" A soldier screamed running into the chamber that everyone had been speaking in. "A large ship is flying towards Alexandria from the east! It's coming from the Outer Continent!" He said. They all ran upstairs to the giant telescope to take a better look. they didn't even have to look through the telescope to see the giant ship approaching Alexandria.

"It looks like....A giant cannon!" Blank shouted. Suddenly the ship stopped. they couldn't see it very well but then a flash struck them followed seconds later by an earth shattering KABOOM!

"Oh my...." Cid said in complete shock.

"NO! NOOOOOOOO! GOD DAMMIT NO!" Zidane shouted punding his fist on the stone wall. Baku and Marcus couldn't beleive what they were seeing. A large mushroom cloud covered the area that the Alexandrian Kingdom once stood.

"Everyone....everyone was there! I even sent them there because I thought they would be safer. I WAS SUCH A FOOL!" Cid yelled. He had been reduced to tears. Amarant turned around and began walking back down the stairs.

"Where the hell are you going Amarant?" Zidane shouted at him. Don't you care about them at all?!" He said running after Amarant and picking him up by his shirt.

"We're the only ones left Zidane. I'm going to train." He replied as he pushed Zidane off of him.

"What the hell do you mean we're all that's left? Huh! They're not dead! I know it!" Zidane shouted as tears began forming in his eyes.

"Are you really that blind? Did you not see the destruction before you?" Amarant questioned. "They're gone. The faster you except it and move on the faster we can get revenge!"

"Everyone else thought you were dead when you didn't come out of Ipsen's castle. I went back for you though becuase I knew in my heart you weren't dead. Would you give up on hope completely when it was the exact thing that saved your own life?" Zidane asked Amarant tears gushing out now.

"You shut the hell up Zidane!" Amarant countered smashing his claws into the wall leaving a huge crack.. "I don't need any of your bull shit!" He said staring deep into Zidanes eyes. "I'm going to train now." Amarant finished as he walked down the stairs. The wall the collapsed on itself as stones broke into tiny little pieces.

"He'll never change." Marcus replied. "Come on guys....let's go to Alexandria!"

* * *

Author's Notes: Yes I finally got this chapter up. I couldn't decide exactly how I wanted and finally decided on this one....anyway tell me what you thought about it and if there's anything you did/didn't like.


	4. The Knight Before Death

**Chapter 3**

**_The Knight before Death_**

"Squall! What the hell is going on? Give me an answer now dammit!" Zell shouted to the back of Squall's head. Seconds ago Zell and Irvine had been dragged onto the airship Ragnarok (that slammed into the ground right next to Balamb as Zell and Irvine were having another one of their daily contests) by Squall who didn't say much at all while he tossed them into the cargo hull. Squall began making his way for another door that led to the hallway but stopped and turned to Zell with a flustered look on his face.

"You want an answer? I don't have one. Laguna called me on the phone and told me to get you two. Everyone else is in Esthar. You don't think I'd like to know what the hell is going on too?!" Squall shouted as he turned around and stared into Zell's eyes. Squall was a scary guy when he was angry. Zell was no push over though as he stood his ground. Zell and Squall were face to face staring through each other like the hawk would it's prey.

"Calm down you two. So we're going to Esthar eh?" Irvine said laughing at the situation. Both Squall and Zell broke their stares on one another and looked at Irvine.

"........." Was Squalls reply as he covered his face with his hand. Irvine saw it coming from the Gunblade specialist who he'd known for quite a while now. They all left the cargo hull and walked down the hallway. Their destination being the cock pit which was on the other floor of this mammoth preportioned airship.

A steel interior and exterior. The Ragnarok was a strong ship indeed. Red coating on the outside and a very bland gray on the inside. More of a war ship then a transportation ship. Though now it seems to be Squalls personal vehicle. He says there's nothing faster he can use to get somewhere. It's never been clocked at full speed but Selphie tried to max it out one day. She broke the sound barrier 7 times and almost flew off the planet before she stopped herself from going any faster. Irvine began pointing and laughing at the vein in Squall's forehead. Squall didn't give it a second thought. He didn't really care. Irvine was a weirdo and a pervert to Squall. When they reached the door to the cockpit Squall stopped.

"Before we enter I'd like to tell you who's in the cock pit to avoid the sudden surprise." Squall paused as Zell looked at him funny. Irvine had his eyes closed and was humming some random tune. "......The three of us, Kiros, Ward, and Seifer." Squall answered recieving surprised faces from Irvine and Zell as he expected.

"SEIFER!? What the hell is he doing out of prison?" Zell screamed. The cock pit door opened and out came the "anti-SEED" as he was dubbed by Selphie. She's always good for corny names.

"How's it going" Seifer paused staring at Zell. "Chicken Wuss?"

* * *

"Pay up Ward. I told you Zell would do it." Kiros said elbowing Ward in the side. Ward lost his voice long ago yet he was still capable of communicating. You could just see his words in his eyes. He was like a "Big teddy bear that throws anchors at people". Selphie's dubbing strikes again. 

"Did you have to hit him that hard Zell?" Irvine laughed. He looked over at Seifer whom Zell had knocked back into the cock pit and into the wall on the other side of the room. Zell then tried to charge as fast as he could and land another blow onto Seifer. He would have too if Kiros didn't beat him there guarding Seifer with his knife-like blades. Kiros was arguably the fastest man alive. Zell stopped in his tracks before he cut his own arm in half.

"That bastard had it coming!" Zell let out. "Why the hell did Laguna call upon him anyway?!" He said pointing at Seifer who was laying on the ground holding his jaw.

"He's a good leader and tactician whether you like him or not. He's a powerful weapon at Laguna's disposal. Laguna asked for him to be released under the condition that he serve Laguna and the people of Esthar." Kiros smerked. Seifer got to his feet finally and began laughing.

"Ha Ha. Nice hit chicken wuss. I'm glad you're stronger then before. I already tested Squall earlier today. He nearly cut my damn head off!" Seifer said never stopping his hysterical laughing. He was one crazy son of a bitch. That's about all you need to know for now.

"Anyway we'll be in Esthar in two minutes. Until then control yourself." Kiros said looking directly at Zell. Zell looked over at him and and then spit on the ground.

"Laguna better have one hell of a reason for starting all this bull shit!" Zell screamed and walked out of the cock pit. An earth shattering boom could then be heard from outside the cock pit as the ship began to shake violently and then stopped as if nothing happened.

"We're we hit?!" Kiros screamed as he ran over to the control panels. The ship was flying on auto pilot at the time. "No, there's no outside damage." He said he began frantically checking the pressure gauges and fuel meters. Squall put his hand over his head and sighed in disgust. Irvine ran out of the cock pit screaming.

"Zell don't punch the ship's walls!" Irvine yelled.

"It wasn't me dammit!" Zell screamed back. Squall's look of disgust turned into a look of horror in a split second as he looked out the cock pit's window. He walked up to the window placing his hand on it in complete shock as he saw thousands of flying monsters and dragons attacking Esthar.

"God dammit! Die you son of a bitch!" could be heard from Zell outside the cock pit along with gun shots. Seconds later both Zell and Irvine ran back into the cock pit and pressed the lock button on the wall.

"Why are there dragons inside the ship?" Zell asked huffing and puffing.

"Their wings got tired?" Irvine snickered. Kiros began locking off all the hallways and doors inside the Ragnarok. As they landed in Esthar it seemed as endless swarms of dragons and monsters were coming.

"Is this another Lunar Cry?" Squall asked Kiros. Ward shook his head no as Kiros answered. They're not dropping from the moon like they do during the Lunar Cry. Plus we're not due for another one for a long time. We wont see another in our time. No No. Someone is definantly controlling these monsters." Kiros explained. Laguna sure had one hell of an intelligence man with Ward being the brute strength of the team. Squall always wondered how Laguna didn't choke on air and die. Kiros was the answer.

"Alright! We're gonna make a break for it and get to the Presidential Palace. The lifts are down and the monsters are blocking our way so it's gonna be a two hundred yard sprint of life and death. Let's do this!" Seifer screamed laughing yet again.

"Are you insane? Those monsters are strong enough by themselves to crush small towns in an instant!" Kiros countered.

"It's only two hundred yards guys. We can do this!" Squall shouted sounding like a leader....even though he hated it. Eventually they all ran out the emergency exit of the cock pit and instantly were fighting for their lives. Civilians running around in complete terror. People running around helplessly as they were being killed by these horrid beasts. As the six of them looked at the situation they all stopped in their tracks. A woman with her child running for shelter was suddenly picked up by a giant red dragon called a Ruby Dragon. The dragon tore her to shreds biting the top half of her body completely off and incinerating her legs and the child in mid flight.

"NO! I'LL RIP THAT BASTARD APART!" Zell screamed at the top of his lungs before Ward stopped him. When Zell looked into his eyes he saw a dark look that sent chills down his spine and made him feel like a child. As it flew at them Ward took the initiative as he drove his anchor into the chest of a giant red dragon who was spitting flames in his direction. The anchor went directly through the dragon as it screamed into the air in agony. He picked the dragon up with his anchor and held it in the air above him. He then slammed the dragon back down into the walkway. The dragon ceased to move.

When he pulled his anchor out of the dragons chest molten liquid spilled out of the dragon melting through the metal walkway they were running on. It was what the dragon used to spit flames. As it ate through the metal it began dripping down to one of the main supports. Gallons were pouring out of the dragon's chest by the second. The giant walkway to the palace suddenly dropped as the support snapped.

"Ho-Ly Shit!" Zell shouted out as the section of the walkway between the Ragnarok and the palace collapsed down five hundred feet to the ground below it. The walkway didn't break the six of them's fall softly as they smashed into the metal. Kiros got to his feet after a few seconds as he stood up and stared at Squall.

"Well who didn't see that one coming Mr. it's only two hundred yards?" in a rather unhappy tone.

"........" was Squalls reply as he covered his face with his hand again shaking his head. "Where are we?" He said looking up at Kiros.

"Don't you even care if everyone is alright? We're below the city. Don't worry though. There's a secret entrance to the palace right over there." he said pointing to giant support right under where the Palace is five hundred feet above them. "It's actually an emergency exit but we can use it to get in." Kiros said again proving his usefulness even though he did sort of treat others like idiots. I guess living around Laguna can make you very much of a prick Squall thought to himself.

"Where's Zell?" Irvine asked as him and Ward walked over to Squall and Kiros. "And Seifer for that matter. You don't think they're fighting do you?" With that the sounds of battle could be heard very clearly. They found Zell and Sefier arguing a few yards away.

"Hey I said I was going to beat his ass!" Zell screamed at Seifer who pushed him.

"Back off Chicken Wuss! This one's mine!" He said cackling. A man in all red stood just staring at the both of them.

"You both....are idiots. I will eliminate you and your friends as well. Now you see me...." The man then disappeared. Everyone began looking around as he seemed to really just poof out of existence. "Now you don't!" the man said though none of them could figure where he said it from. Ward then bent over holding his stomach. He then fell over with an incredible force as if he had been knocked down. Ward got up but was bleeding from his nose and mouth now.

"What the hell is going on here?" Zell screamed. In a split second he ducked and fired a punch that connected with something. The man in red reappeared. "He can turn invisible!" Zell screamed.

"How did YOU figure that out?" Kiros questioned Zell very confused as the man in red looked at him even more confused.

"I saw that foot print over there form by itself. I notice little things like that in fighting situations." Zell bragged smiling.

"Interesting. Time to get serious then isn't it?" The man in red said. He disappeared again. Kiros was then struck down to the ground. He was holding the back of his head as he was picked up by his legs and thrown into Ward. Both were out cold now.

"Two down." The man said.

"Over there!" Zell screamed as he swung his fist at air and fell on his face. "Ow dammit!"

"So close. You almost got me didn't you?" He said mocking Zell. Squall out of nowhere slashed his Gunblade side ways going for a wide spread attack. He hit nothing.

"He's moving faster then before!" Zell said. Irvine began firing his gun at random places seeing if he could hit him. Seifer just watched as everyone tried to kill the man. Seifer then began gathering energy into his fist and fired a fire ball the size of a car straight ahead of him.

"ARGH!"

"Got him." Seifer laughed. Seifer then realised that the fireball was being pushed back toward him. A look of terror took over his face as it burned his body in a heat so intense it could melt his gun blade. He fell to the ground with smoke pouring off his body. Squall ran over to him and to check if he was still alive. He was. Not for long if the man did anything else to him though.

"Zell! Can you still follow his movements?" Irvine asked him as he stopped firing at nothing.

"Yeah a little." He said scratching his head. Irvine walked up behind him and set the barrel of his gun on Zell's shoulder while handing him ear plugs.

"Put those in and point out where he is." Irvine said in a serious tone. "You're my scope Zell. Don't fail the sniper." Squall put his hand over his head again.

"You guys are kidding right?" Squall asked.

"THERE!" Zell screamed. Bang! Blood began landing on the ground. "When he bleeds the blood is invisible. After it hits the ground and isn't apart of his body anymore though...."

"A trail." Squall smiled. "You guys sure are something." The blood stopped forming on the ground.

"You people think I wouldn't know how to tend to a bullet wound in my leg?" The man said. "I feel so underated. I guess you'll understand when you die." This time the voice of the man was circling the area so that he didn't leave himself open for attack. "Time to show you guys why I've been chosed for this mission." The wind in the area suddenly picked up.

"Is he moving so fast that he's creating wind around us?" Irvine asked.

"By moving this fast whatever tracks he leaves are being erased. Foot prints, wind from his body, even small glimpses of his clothing when it gets too far away from his body." Zell said shocked as he took out the ear plugs. "He's making himself impossible to track." Zell suddenly was sent flying into the air and slammed back down into the ground face first. Irvine began firing all around Zell trying to hit the man. Irvine saw one of his bullets stop in mid air. The it dropped to the ground.

"These bullets of yours are slow." The man said. Irvine then doubled over as he was holding his stomach. "In case you're wondering why I'm not killing any of you it's because I still need to find the others. I will torture you all if you don't tell me where they are. How about you?" He said as Irvine floated up into the air. "What if I ripped out all your pretty brown hair? I'm sure all the girls love it so much don't they?" He said as Irvine fell back to the ground.

"Why do you do this?" Squall asked holding his Gunblade facing where Irvine was. "What is your purpose?"

"My purpose? My purpose is to kill all of you. I was created to do it."

"Crea-" was all Squall got out as he was struck in the stomach by the man. I didn't see him coming at all. Nothing. It's like he doesn't exist. Squall thought as he rose to his feet.

"You -cough- you wont beat me." Squall said raising his Gunblade. He then stood straight up and summoned the Guardian Force Shiva. A powerful one would take too he thought as Shiva appeared in front of him. The Ice Queen Shiva shen lunged away from him and began covering the area with cold air and ice while having no effect on Squall. Squall saw a shard of ice move forward. It was him. He ran at it and swung his sword and saw the mans arm land on the ground. Blood was now in massive puddles on the ground everywhere.

"Very good. But this is where you meet your end!" He said as Squall was picked up and being pushed forward. He saw in front of him that was going to be pushed into a large spike of ice. "I can impale you yet heal you and keep you alive. Then you'll tell me where they are." There was no time left to call off Shiva. He couldn't escape the man's strength even though he only had one arm. A fireball shot from behind Squall and hit Shiva causing all the ice in the area including the one in front of Squall to disappear.

"You owe me Squall...." Seifer said as he fell to his knees and then onto his face, charred body and all. Squall still being pushed hit the ground and rolled onto his back shoving his Gunblade up and connecting with the man. He reappeared in on top of him blood pouring onto Squall. Since the man was going to push him through the ice he couldn't stop his momentum and fell onto Squall's Gunblade.

"You...." He said looking down at the blade that had gone through the center of his chest and out his back. "..didn't...lose"

"...Yeah" Squall smiled as he pulled out his Gunblade.

"You will still die though." The man in all red spit out as his body finally went limp. Kiros, Ward, Zell, Irvine...and Seifer. They had all never been in a battle like this before. Zell pushed himself back off the ground trying to get to his feet.

"Dammit! He beat me!" Zell screamed pounding the ground. "You always do better then me Squall!" He smiled as he rose to his feet.

"Do something about it then next time." Squall said in his normal don't bother me tone. Then he smiled. Squall had changed a little over time. He was becoming more social and less....well less Squall-ish. A loud rumbling could be heard from above.

"What's that noise?" He said looking up. "The supports!" Zell screamed. The palace's supports were collapsing and were coming down upon them. Zell and Squall grabbed everyone and ran as fast as they could just barely dodging the million tons of metal coming down upon them.

"Everyone was in the palace right? That's what you said right?" Zell screamed as he was running with Ward and Kiros on his shoulders. Squall had Irvine and Seifer on his.

"They'll be fine! We have to get out of here and get these guys to a healer quick!"

"The Ragnarok fell down with it. We can't go anywhere." Kiros said.

"Hey!" Zell stopped and put him and Ward down. Both of them were awake. What was I carrying you guys for if you were awake?!" They both looked at each other.

"We were tired." Kiros laughed.

* * *

"So how is Seifer doing?" Zell asked. 

"Two hours ago you wanted him dead. Now you care about his condition?" Squall asked.

"He helped you. I forgive his crimes now. I still don't like him though." Zell said crossing his arms and looking away.

"Whatever." Squall said turning around. "He just needs rest. Even a healer can't cure burns that bad right away. His muscle tissue might grow back weird and he may never be able to walk again if we did that."

"Oh ok. Good to hear." Zell said and walked out of the hospital waiting room to outside. He saw Irvine and the others bandaged up. Zell was the only one without a cut or bruise. He seemed to not get hurt very often. Mostly because of the constant training he puts his body through. His body has actually learned how to heal itself three times faster then a normal humans. He doesn't have a clue about it though. "So all the monsters are gone right?" he asked.

"Yeah. they disappeard after that guy died. Still no trace of the others or the Ragnarok though. The soldiers checked and nobody was in the palace except a few janitors." Kiros told him.

"That's strange. Wonder where they are then?" Zell yawned. "I think I need a nap." He said as he turned around. He looked up as he saw the Ragnarok fly passed him and go straight into air until it couldn't be seen. Straight to outerspace. Irvine pointed to the air.

"There it is..."

Everyone glared at him.

"What?"

* * *

Author's Note: I don't think I've ever re-written something so many times as I have this chapter. Anyway not my best but I think there's some really good and original parts in there. Read and Review please.


	5. Cat Scratch the Surface

**Chapter 4**

**_Cat Scratch the Surface_**

The spikey headed blonde with the giant sword and sparkling eyes sat with his legs propped up on a table inside of the Costa Del Sol he purchased a few years back. Acrossed from him sat Reeve or "Cait Sith". With Shinra gone his supply of armored, forture telling, battle dolls was running thin. He was just taking it easy now. The door to the home opened and in came Barret completely soaking wet.

"Why the HELL are we havin' dis mettin' in the hottest place on the planet?!" he screamed in Cloud's face. Cloud handed him a paper fan. Barret through it up in the air burnt it to a crisp by casting fire on it.

"So you managed to figure out materia that much now?" Cloud said laughing in his chair. Barret never could figure materia. The fact that he had gotten this far was pretty good for him...but Cloud mastered it when he was 5. Barret's a grown man.

"That's enough you two." Tifa said walking in with a Bikini top on and a towel around her waist. Numerous hoots and hollers could be heard from the street she just exited. "One seond...." She went back outside shutting the door behind her. Trash cans banging and groans of pain were all that could be heard. She walked back in dusting off her hands. Everyone just stared at her. She was a hand to hand combat specialist and loved to show her strength.

"Uhh....Tifa?" Barret said staring at her.

"What's up?" She said smiling.

"Down...." he said pointing. Tifa looked down to see her top missing and her breasts exposed to the world. her face turned red as she ran back outside to get her top and was again met with hoots and hollers. Even louder sounds of trash cans banging, windows breaking, dogs barking, and men groaning could be heard. Cloud peaked outside to see at least 50 guys on the ground.

"Get inside Tifa."

* * *

"Yeah I thought someone set off sleeping gas when I saw all of them on the ground outside. Control yourself Tifa!" Yuffie laughed pointing at Tifa. 

"So Junon harbor is gone off the face of the earth? Nowhere to be found? Disappeared into thin air? How the #! is that possible?" Cid screamed over everybody.

"A new power we've yet to encounter yet." Vincent answered from the other side of the room. Everyone was now quiet. Especially Cid since he was sleeping.

"Have any other strange things happened recently? Maybe we could link something to this." Red XIII asked looking around at everyone with his one eye the other being a scar. Red XIII was the last of his tribe as a sort of tiger hybrid with tatoos covering his orange hide and a tail tipped with a flame. Seriously his tail is on fire at all times.It has a certain energy to it that keeps it from burning any else though....he can't even explain it so don't worry about it.

"Not that I know of. All I know is that Shinra has been trying to rebuild itself but troops keep abandoning their duties and keep letting people in to secure areas for money." Reeve explained. "So who knows. Maybe they're behind this after all." The door then opened and a man walked in.

"The hotel is down the street." Cloud said pointing to the right. he get's barged in on a lot if he doesn't lock his door. All the buildings in the area look the same.

"No this is where I was suppose to come. You are Cloud Strife are you not?" The old man asked.

"Yes. Is there a problem? If it's about the rent I don't pay rent. I own this house." Cloud said pointing to the door.

"You get a lot of scam artists here don't you? No No I'm here to talk about the recent disappearance of Junon harbor. Do you mind if I smoke?" The man asked. Cloud shrugged his shoulders and leaned back into his chair some more.

"So what do you know that we don't old man?" Cloud asked. Everyone else just watched the two of them.

"Baywood's the name. What do I know huh? Well for starters you are not alone. Rather, this planet is not alone." Cloud looked at Baywood as if he were a crackpot.

"What the hell are you-/So you mean there's more then one planet out there. We already know that. Meteor destroyed all of those planets though." Barret was interrupted by Vincent. Barret just scratched his head and sat back.

"Meteor destroyed uninhabited planets for thousands of years. It must be summonded in order for it to hit a certain planet since the universe is so vast, the chances of it running in to your planet are non-existent. A man named Sephiroth summonded meteor onto this planet three years ago. A girl named Aeris summoned Holy, it's exact opposite, to counter it. They both fought but in the end meteor was repelled. Meteor destroyed another planet that WAS inhabited two years ago. 50 of the population escaped on ships to outerspace."

"Woah Woah Woah! Are you from that planet?!" Cloud asked shocked.

"Yes I am. I am one of the three leaders of the planet. We all escaped and after much arguing I decided to use our forces to hunt and destroy meteor. The other two had been overcome with hate for worlds that were left untouched by meteor and have gone off to wreak havoc and conquer those worlds. There a 4 worlds in this galaxy of yours and three of them are in total chaos. You are indeed lucky that we got here first."

"You got here first? So you were the ones that made Junon disappear?" Red XIII asked.

"Yes, we turned that gun into a ship hoping to modify it and make it capable of destroying meteor. I sent my troops on that ship and stayed behind to tell the civilians of this planet what we were doing. Junon was taken over by the other two leader's forces and is now being used to attack the other worlds." he explained further wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

"So you want us to help get Junon back and help stop the other two leaders? Right?" Cloud said standing up and stretching out his arms and back.

"It's not that simple. The people on the other worlds will try to destroy Junon. We have to get there as soon as possible."

"I question the true motives of these other leaders." Vincent added.

"Yeah I don't beleive the whole wraking chaos thing. What are they really after?" Reeve asked the old man.

"Honestly I don't know. What I do know is that we can still stop them. I've researched all of you and know that you all are extremely powerful. I ask you all to please help me rid the universe of Meteor." Everyone smiled and nodded to Cloud except for Reeve.

"I'm gonna have to sit out of this one Cloud. I'm gonna make sure nothing happens here." Reeve explained.

"Your loss." Cloud smiled. Reeve left first and the the others followed. when they went outside they couldn't see Reeve anywhere. He was stealthy like that.

* * *

"Wow! This ship is so high tech!" Cid yelled. 

"He stays awake for things that interest him." Tifa explained to Baywood.

"I see that." He said as he watched Cid jump into the pilot's chair. "So you want to fly this ship, Cid? "

"Hell Yeah! The controls are so simple on this thing a child could use it! But with so much power I could do anything with this ship!" Cid began firing up the engines and clicking all kinds of buttons and switches. Everyone hoped he knew what he was doing.

"So how long will i take for us to get to the planet?!" Cid asked.

"We should be there by morning." Baywood answered.

"An all-nighter eh? I Love It!" Cid yelled. The ship rose up above Costa del Sol frightening the beach goers and scaring them into the surrounding buildings.

"Is that good?" baywood asked looking out the window.

"Bah! They've seen worse!" Barret answered.

"Ok. Let's leave Cid alone and go into the living quarters of this ship." he said as he waved them all over to follow him out of the cock pit. As they entered the living quarters they realised how much room there was in this not so large ship. A kitchen, beds, showers, and a weight room all combined into one room.

* * *

After eating and getting settled in Cloud began talking to Baywood while the others were watching Barret show off with the weights. Red XIII walked over to the weight Barret was curling seconds ago and grabbed it with his mouth. He then snapped his head back and threw the weight into the air making it hit the ceiling and fall back to the ground and crack the floor. Red then asked if he did it right. 

"How strong are the enemies we'll be facing?" Cloud asked Baywood.

"Well some are really push overs for you guys. But the strong ones will not waste any time in finding you all. There sole job is to eliminate the strongest threats and will probably meet us as soon as we exit this ship. Be prepared for a bloodbath."Baywood then layed down on his bed. "I'm going to take a short nap before we arrive. We should be there in a few hours. I suggest you do the same."

"I'm fine." Cloud said as he left Baywood to rest and grabbed one of the bottles of rum out of the kitchen.

* * *

"Alright get your asses movin'! We're landing dammit!" Cid yelled over the intercom. Everybody began scrambling grabbing their weapons. The ship began shaking violently as they hit the ground. The door opened up and they all poured out. As they looked at their surroundings they were surrounded by the flames of a destroyed Alexandria castle lighting the night sky around them. 

"A destroyed castle? Did we travel into the past or something?" Cloud asked Baywood.

"No. This is just the way this world is. They don't have materia like you guys do either." He said getting shocked faces in response.

"Did you come to finish them off? You sick bastards? Huh? Say something! Say your last words becuase I'm gonna rip out all of your hearts to see if they really are black!" Zidane shouted swinging his butterfly sword above his head with tears streaming down his face. He charged at them slashing down onto Cloud who was in the front. As their blades met both stared into each others eyes. Cloud say the hate in Zidane's eyes for that brief second.

"Back Off!" Cloud shouted as he kicked Zidane in the stomach. Zidane fell backwards but jumped into the air slashing and just missing Cloud's head. He landed behind him and slashed upward cutting his back just barely. Red XIII pounced onto him with a blade in his mouth pushed right against Zidane's throat.

"Move another inch and you die. Got it?" Red said. He was a very cold fighter despite his big heart. Suddenly Blank and Marcus appaeared trying to Slash down onto Red XIII but Barret unleashed a his machine gun on them. they tried to deflect the bullets but both caught at least a few to the torso. They both fell down in agony.

"Don't you move either big guy." Baku said as he held his sword to Barret's throat from behind. Barret sneered in frustration. He pointed his Gun arm at Blank and Marcus. "What did I just say!" he said as he grabbed a dagger out of his pocket and stabbed Barret in his right shoulder, the one with the gun. "Now you wont move that arm anyway. GWAHAHAHAHA!" he said. Barret screamed out in pain while trying not to move. "You don't mess with Tantalus! Aint that right boys!"

"Shut up Baku! I'm in a bad way here!" Zidane shouted as Red XIII still had a blade to his throat.

"Can we call it even now?" Amarant said as he landed in front of Zidane with Yuffie and Tifa on his shoulders. "These two were planning to sneak around and get behind you Baku. I took care of them." He dropped them both. they were out cold.

"I thought you were training Amarant?" Zidane laughed. Red XIII growled in wiping the smile clean off his face. Bang.

"HA! Didn't see you there. I'm getting rusty at this." Amarant said as he barely deflected Vincents bullet with his claws. He had hid himself behind the ship without anyone else noticing. Vincent approached Amarant with his gun pointed right at him. Amarant dropped down and dove forward slashing at Vincent trying to escape the gun's range. Vincent jumped into air dodging the attack and firing at Amarant many times. He seemed to have missed everytime. Amarant jumped into the air and slashed Vincents chest open before he grabbed onto him and slammed into into the ground below.

"Chaos." Vincent said as his body raised itself into the air and began transforming into a huge winged demon looking creature.

"Haste!" Amarant shouted as he felt his body's speed pick up tremendously. He sprinted right and planted his foot juking back left and spinned with his arms extended trying to slash the demon in half. Vincent dodged faster then in his previous form and cut downward onto Amarants back spraying blood everywhere. As he fell Amarant landed on the ground and jumped back up with his arms extended straight up and smashed both of his claws into Vincents chest. tehy both fell to the ground. Vincent changed back into his normal form and wasn't moving. Amarant tried to reach his feet but fell back down and didn't budge.

"The sides are even now. I'll let go of you if you tell him to let go of Barret." Red XIIII proposed to Zidane. Zidane nodded and then signaled to Baku to let him go. He withdrew his sword as Red XIII got off of Zidane.

"Son of a bitch!" Barret screamed at baku as he pointed his gun at him. Baku's eyes widened like a deer in headlights.

"Stop Barret!" Red XIII shouted as he tackled Barret to the ground. "They were willing to compromise. They may not even be the enemy!"

"Enemy? You guys would dare call us the enemy?" Zidane laughed. "Your the ones who did all this!" He said as he pointed to all the wreckage. Stone walls smashed into nothing. Fires everywhere. Dead soldiers. "You killed all my friends. My family!"

"No we didn't ya damn lunatic!" Barret screamed. "We just got here!"

"Oh Yeah Right!" Zidane screamed.

"Fighting among yourselves in a time like this. Shouldn't you be worried about what WE'RE going to do next?" A man said as Zidane turned around and was met with a punch that knocked him good 20 feet back. Zidane jumped to his feet instantly.

"Who the hell are you?! Are you the one behind all this?"

"Behind all of this? No. But I am behind the extermination of this planet." The man said. "Yes this planet must be cleaned of all life. Boss's orders you know. My name is Synth and none of your names matter becuase none of you will scratch me. I am a mix of synthesized metals and unbreakable."

"Man SHUT UP!" Barret shouted as he unleashed a barrage of bullets at Synth. They all bounced off of his body not even leaving the slightest mark. "What the"

"You are surprised? Didn't you all beat my inferior subordinate earlier?" Synth said in confusion.

"That.....was me." Amarant coughed shpwing he was still awake. "I.....beat him." Synth looked upon him in disgust.

"One man beat him? He really was useless." A blur shot by Zidane's face as he say a black figure appear and punch Synth in the chest. His arm cracked from the fist to his shoulder and shattered off of his body. "I'm glad you stopped by. I wanted to personally make sure you were exterminated along with this planet." Synth said laughing to himself.

"I....I just wanted you to know....you're a tool just like me. Nothing will change that." he said. Synth punched him in the chest leaving a huge dent that made the opposite part on his back stick out.

"I'm a tool. That is true. The differance between you and me is that I am a useful tool. You can be tossed away with the rest of this garbage....or planet as you all would call it." Synth said looking over at Zidane and the others for the last part. Synth raised is hand and chopped it down splitting the man's head in two. He fell backwords dead befroe he hit the ground.

"You killed you're own man? Are you really that heartless?" Baku asked as he stepped forward. "You got no right beign a leader. Leaders don't kill their own men. They pick them uo when they fail and tell them to do better next time."

"A good leader? I'm no leader. He and all of my soldiers are but mere tools of mine that I use to complete my mission. And I'm just a tool of one above me." Synth explained as he stepped forward and stomped on the back of the man he just killed's head smashing it into the ground.

"You. You just aint right!" Baku screamed at Synth. Baku jumped forward with his huge sword and slashed down onto him. His sword met the left side of Synth's neck and cracked all the way up. The top half of the sword fell off. Baku dropped his sword in shock as fear took over his face. Synth walked forward and palmed Baku's head. He crushed Baku's head and let go. The body of the leader of Tantalus dropped to the ground dead.

"BAKU!" Zidane screamed. He ran over to his body and looked at him. He watched the blood pour out of his cruched head and create a puddle on the rubble of Alexandria castle. Rage overcoming Zidane he stood up and screamed. A strange light glowed off of Zidane's body as he entered the trance state.

"Man screw this mother f------!" Barret yelled. Baret powered up his gun and fired a giant blast out of it at Synth. It hit him directly and a huge explosion covered the area. Smoke made visibilty lower drastically until it began to clear up. When it finally cleared enough they all saw Synth standing in the exact same spot unharmed by the attack. Synth appeared in front of Barret almost instantly and smacked in down to the ground. Barret was out.

"I had to even up these odds first. Give me your best shot." He said staring at Zidane. Zidane jumped into the air in a blur and began spinning so fast that his after image looked to be not moving at all. As he dropped even faster he struck his blade down onto Synth. The butterfly sword had penetrated his left shoulder by less than a few centimeters. But indeed it had penetrated. "WHAT!?" He screamed in shcok as his eyes widened. He grabbed Zidane by his tail and slammed him down to the ground. Zidane was out.

"Only you left now huh?" He said holding his shoulder and looking at it with a confused face.

"Hmph. You've never felt pain before have you? I'll make sure you get a good dose of it." Red XIII laughed. "My tribe lives on inside of me. I'll show you our true power. When a man of my tribe passes puberty a new power is born inside of him. I will show you this!"

"You are nothing but a beast. Talk all you want. I shall end your life and send your tribe into extinction!" He aid cackling like a mad man. The pain had warped his mind even more then it was before.

"I will make my father proud! I WILL UNLEASH IT!" Red XIII screamed. The flame on his tail turned black and then his fur changed as well. He charged at Synth full speed and slashed his claw dwon his chest slicing him and leaving scratch marks like a house cat would. Nothing serious but a huge step from what the others had done. Synth back up and stared down at his chest.

"You....you scratched....me? Enough!" Synth screamed. Off in the distance Red XIII saw thousands of soldiers marchin toward their location. "Looks like they finally caught up ha ha ha!"

"Every last one of you will die on this day....I will feast on your souls and crush your ambitions!" Red XIII screamed as his eyes turned blood red. He jumped up and howled into the sky.

* * *

Author's Notes: Took me long enough for an update didn't it? Sorry to all my loyal fans cricket noises. Wow....anyway this is only part one of this battle. So yes, the next chapter will be a continuation of THIS part of the story. I wont switch over yet. Couldn't leave you hanging like this could I? 


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